Dealing With The Devil

Chapter 3: Power

I bolted upright from my laying down position. Sweat poured down my face. I was breathing heavily. With shaking hands, I stood and paced around my room. I told myself to calm down. It was just a dream. I was okay. I would be fine. Breathe. 

But I could still feel the cold water running over me. I could still hear the laughter. I could still feel the hands holding me under. Shaking my arms out on either side of me, I glance out the window to see a bright sunny day. Letting out a small breath I close my eyes, inhaling deeply, then, when I open my eyes, I let out an exhale. A knock sounds at my door and I open it hesitantly. 

"You okay?" My master asks, pressing me to the side and looking around the room. I nod, glancing at him fleetingly. "What happened?" He asks, his voice demanding and concerned. Yeah right, like he cares. The only reason he'd care would be because I was his slave. I was his property. It would be a shame if something happened to me. 

"It was just a bad dream." I say quietly. He frowns, looking me over. Then his whole demeanor changes. 

"Go sit on the bed." He orders. I follow what he says and I tense as he comes closer. "I'm apologizing ahead of time." He says quietly in my ear. I try to flinch away but he grips my shoulders and holds me in place. His hands press me onto the bed and then he pins my arms down before sinking his fangs into the side of my neck. 

The pain isn't as bad as the first, I will admit, but it was still like torture. The fire spreads through my body, but it's as though it was expecting it and could sort of brace itself. I understand why he's pinning me down. If he didn't, I would be thrashing violently and he would have no hope of keeping his fangs in me. I slam into him, desperately trying to escape the tightening pain on my head, but his heavy weight and strong grip keeps me down. The scream that I release is muffled by his hand but it's soon over. When my master is done he gets off of me quickly and brushes himself off as if I were some sort of disease. 

"Again, I am sorry. I know it hurts." He says, before turning. 

"Then why'd you do it?" I snap. He turns back around, glaring at me. I swallow, realizing how short I was being with him. That's not very smart on my part. "Sorry-" I start to apologize but he interrupts. 

"No, no you deserve to know part of what I am doing." He runs a hand through his thick hair before looking me over, a small smirk playing on his lips. "A vampire must successfully mark his servant four times. The first gives the human the vampire's life source. It enables the human to not be blinded by the mind tricks and voice of the vampire. The first mark also helps the human sustain stronger pain than it usually could." He starts. I nod as if I was really comprehending this. 

"The second bite claims you as mine. It also allows me to enter your dreams. So if I needed to contact you as of right now and you were asleep; I could. You know I don't eat food, due to the fact I can't taste or digest it very well. However, now I can feed off of you without being anywhere near you. I will take your energy. That way you can keep your blood and I can taste foods. This also means that you may eat more. So don't be worried." He waits for my reaction and I frown. He steps closer and indicates for me to come towards him. I hesitantly do so and when I stand in front of him he smiles. 

"It worked." He says quietly. I don't know if I was supposed to hear that or not. As I am about to ask what he means disappears. I huff in annoyance but then he's back with a small mirror in his hand. I gently take it from him and look over my reflection.

The first thing I notice is my eyes. I take in a deep breath and gently touch the outside of my eyes. My once milky brown eyes are now swirling with green, in a beautiful hazel color. Even as I watch, the green continues to take over my eyes. I glance at my master who is staring intently at me. His eyes are a darker color of the one that is taking over mine, but they are still piercing. My mouth opens to speak but I can't form the words that I want to. Instead, I glance back at my reflection and my eyes travel to my neck. 

On the right side of my neck I have four small purple bruises that were starting to go away. On the left however there were four bright red holes in my skin. I couldn't look at them any longer and let the mirror fall to my side. 

"What is it supposed to mean, my eyes, I mean?" I question quietly. 

"You have been linked with me. Any vampire would simply have to look into your eyes to know you were claimed." He says nonchalantly. 

I stared in awe at my master's words. "What um, what does the third mark do?" I gulped. My master sighs. 

"I will actually have to drink your succulent blood my dear slave." A grin spreads across his face. I wrap my arms around my torso, trying to make myself smaller. "However I do not like revealing secrets and so, I will withhold this information from you." I curse him under my breath and he shakes his head, chuckling slightly. "Intensified hearing my dear, it makes it difficult for you to breathe without me knowing." He starts walking towards the door when he suddenly stops. 

"I cannot be here much longer. I have an important interview that I must attend. Now, I will be here later tonight. Please try to sleep peacefully, your tossing and turning for the past couple of hours has not been pleasant to hear." He nodded as if it was me answering him. 

I went to tell him that I wasn't tired but I felt sleep creeping to my body. When I glanced at my master he seemed to be concentrating on me. I frowned, wondering if he was making me tired, but I wasn't going to ask when I was about to pass out from exhaustion right here and now. 

Dragging myself to the bed I crawled in, not feeling like I had gotten any sleep. The time that I was this exhausted after an all-nighter crossed my mind. I smile softly at the memory but then I am lost in a world of darkness. 

*****

"You have no idea what I'm capable of." My master's voice entered my hearing. 

"Yet you wish to press me into wanting to know. There is something different about you youngling. Have lost your respect for your elders?" An unknown voice hisses. I saw an old man. His eyes were pure black; that was the first thing I noticed. He had a giant nose that had a sharp hook, a red tie with a dark tuxedo, and dark dress shoes. His gray hair was combed to the side in light wisps and his eyes crinkled with his age that had taken its toll. Either he was changed at an old age, or vampires can age. 

"I have respect. It is just when I don't receive the same respect, that I become demanding. Now do you wish to answer my question or should I go to someone who has more decency?" I could feel my master's anger building. 

My first instinct was just to let the tide roll, see where this goes. Another part of me was getting so overly curious that I had to butt in. 'Master-' I barely get one word out when he silences me. 

'Not now Nichole. This is not something you can help with.' My master interrupts. I frown but continue to watch the scene unfold. The tension between the two vampires creates a constriction that makes it difficult to relax. I felt as though there was steam rising from the anger boiling on each side against the white backdrop of the two men. They were the only things that I could see and it aggravated me horribly. 

"There is no one else that can answer your questions, besides the board. The questions you are asking are irrelevant to you anyways, so why is it any concern of yours?" The older vampire asks Master. I frown. This was all so confusing. 

"I told you. I am here on behalf of my father." The way he says it makes me wonder if his words are true. It sounded like a lame excuse if you ask me. Pursing his lips, the older vampire thinks carefully before responding. 

"Why is it that your father cannot be present?" The old vampire is being smart in asking his questions to make sure that my master is telling the truth. I wait for the answer and I am not at all surprised by the elaborate story. 

"My mother is bearing a child and my father is busy on a mission that the board has assigned to him. My eldest brother could not come because he has disgraced my father and so the job fell to me to be here to replace my father. This is the law. This is what I have followed." He describes a situation that is almost believable. He answered the questions but raised some of my own. How did a vampire disgrace a father? Why doesn't he just go to the board if this man is being this difficult? Can vampires really have children? Oh, goodness, these creatures are confusing. 

"Very well. I will answer your questions youngling, if you promise not to share this information with anyone but your father. The board will not be happy if they know I am telling a minor vampire this..." He trails off for a minute and I notice the hesitation, the tension, before his shoulders relax slightly. It seems that the answer was a believable one to the vampire. 

"Only a Master Vampire is able to have a successful and legitimate blood slave. Others may have servants, but they are not anywhere near as powerful as a blood slave. A blood slave will be the vampire's companion throughout its life and will be loyal to that vampire until death. In order to get a slave, the slave will have to admit that you are above them, and actually feel it in their heart, otherwise the transformation will kill them. Once the third mark has been completed successfully, there is no reversing it. The blood slave has no escape. A successful fourth mark results in a deeper bond between the slave and the vampire, but it isn't necessary. The bond cannot be broken by any force other than death of the vampire or the slave." The old vampire looks my master over before waiting expectantly. 

I found myself trying to process everything that the old vamp had just said, but it was nearly impossible for me to comprehend. Master Vampires? Blood slaves more powerful than a servant? Transformation? Bond? I knew my mouth was open and I heard my master chuckle in my head. 

"Thank you, elder. I am sorry for our misunderstanding earlier, it was not my intent to anger you." My master says respectfully. Goodness he's a charmer. 

'Nichole.' I hear his voice thundering in my ears. I try to give a response but my thoughts get stuck in my head. What is he going to do to me? 'I am not going to answer your questions. I simply want you to keep in mind what he said. It is important.' I want to respond but my brain is still reeling. 

'You did this on purpose.' I grumble eventually. A chuckle reaches my ears and I snap my eyes open to face my master. 

"And if I did do this on purpose?" He questions, a smug grin on his face. His hair is tousled and he is wearing all black clothing. The clothes do look good on him. Shut up Nichole! "There is nothing wrong with giving you a little more information." He smirks and I glare. 

"That wasn't any information relevant to me! All of that information only raised more questions!" I argue. He laughs at me, making my spine run cold with chills. 

"And that is the way I like it." He turns on his heel and leaves. I watch as he walks away and I suddenly become aggravated. 

'That's unfair to me in so many ways.' I glower. A tug in my stomach catches my attention and then suddenly my master grips his head in his hands, bending over his knees in pain. I stare in awe, wondering what's wrong but then he yells at me to stop. I stop thinking about how unfair it was that he purposely made me helpless and he could suddenly straighten. 

The look he gave me when he turned around was one that made me want to crawl into a ball and just.. die. His eyes swirled in rage and I stared up at him as he towered over me. "What did you just do?" He hisses between his teeth. I open my mouth to answer but I don't have one. Honestly, I have no idea. All I know is that I felt a tug in my stomach and then suddenly he was keeling over. It wasn't my fault, was it? 

"I don't know." I splutter helplessly. My master glares down at me, piercing me with those dagger-like eyes. I swallow hard. 

"I do. You entered my mind. And that.. Is unacceptable." His lips tug into a grin and I feel exceptionally small. I open my mouth to protest but he steps closer and my mind goes blank. Fear starts down at my toes and then I'm suddenly shaking. "I'm going to enjoy this." 

I'm not sure how it happened exactly, or how long it took, but what I do know is that this is possibly worse than him biting me. My arms are behind me, chained to a wall. I have a blindfold over my eyes but I can still talk and my legs aren't chained to anything. I was still useless. My limbs were jelly and I didn't have the guts to stand up or try talking. I didn't even know if he was in here. I thought he was a good guy, you know, scary at first but good in the heart? Yeah, that theory went down the drain. 

Maybe it was the fact that I was scared, or maybe it was a strange instinct, but I knew that I should say something. I mean, if he was in here he may or may not respond, but even if he didn't, no harm done right? He would probably hear me if he was at the other end of the house. So what's the difference? 

"Are you going to do anything?" He asks. I breathe out a shaky breath, glad that he broke the ice. I don't think I could have really said anything without knowing he was there. "This is getting exceptionally boring with you just sitting here doing nothing." The way he says it makes it seem like I was supposed to entertain him with my weakness. You know what? I'm not that dumb. I know I can't get out so what's the point of fighting? 

"Sorry." I mumble. He sighs. 

"Seriously? Nothing? No fear? No screaming for forgiveness? I thought humans were at least a little more aware of death when it was knocking on their door." His voice is closer. I can feel his stare on me and I am suddenly more aware of my position than I have been. Gosh I feel so small. 

"I'm sorry for accepting the fact that I can't go anywhere." I snap. He chuckles and I frown, biting my tongue. 

I hate his laugh. It's so intimidating and cold. I never thought a laugh could be so much like ice and shatter you to bits and pieces, cutting into your brain and making you cower in fear. I hate it.

"You've accepted the fact that you can't go anywhere? Why's that?" I hear the tint of amusement in his words and I know exactly what he's trying to do. He wants to make me feel even smaller, even more useless next to him than I already am. I frown and contemplate my answer before replying quietly. 

"You already know why." I say tentatively. My wrists have lost their feeling and I don't think I could move my arms even if they weren't chained. I can't see any color besides black and might as well have my eyes closed. I hear a small scuffle to my right and I know he's right next to me. The hairs on the back of my neck rise and I can't help but swallow the lump forming in my throat. 

"Maybe I know, and maybe I don't. I think that it would be in your best interest to answer my question, hybrid." I snap my head in his direction at the name. 

"What did you just call me?" I snarl. Nicknames that were meant to diminish a person had always been one of my pet peeves. My master smirked. He had to have smirked because I could sense his cockiness in the air. That downright annoying cockiness that he had. It drove me wild. 

"A hybrid." He repeats. I take in a deep breath and am about to run my mouth when he continues. "You, my dear, have more to you than what meets the eye." I can feel his breath across my face. "I highly doubt that you even know what it is that I am referring to." His words rolled off me and I could picture his cold green eyes, that I had the pleasure of matching now that I was claimed, cutting into me. 

"You my dear, are a one in a million, and you have a strong power to match your personality. However, your power is not yet fully unfolded. This means that you can be influenced." I can't fully understand what he is saying because of all the loose ends, but I am starting to get the idea that I am special. 

"What is my power?" I ask, insanely curious to find out more. 

"You have the ability to influence a person's conscience and show them what is right and wrong. You can't make them choose one way but your mind squeezes their brain to the point that they want to change their opinion." My master pauses.

His breathing is now on my neck and I feel his eyes looking at my neck, probably searching for the right place to sink his fangs in. "There is only one thing on earth that has such a power." He continues and I try backing up but I am pressed against the wall. "And you are it." One of his hands grip my jaw and I try to jerk it out of his grip but it doesn't seem to work. 

"Therefore I am going to make this permanent. You and your power will be mine forever."